Moment of Oneness: Season of Creation 2020 - Week 5 - Concluding Celebration

Concluding celebration of Creation Spirituality/St. Francis 

September 30, 2020

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Opening/Centering Song: Here in this Place

https://youtu.be/sgkWXOSGmOQ

Opening Prayer: Source of All, we are grateful for your presence in the whole universe

and in the smallest of your creatures.

You embrace with your tenderness all that exists.

You pour out upon us the power of your love,

that we may protect life and beauty.

You fill us with peace, that we may live

as brothers and sisters, harming no one.

You help us to rescue the abandoned and forgotten of this earth,

so precious in your eyes.

We are grateful.

Amen. 

Reading:  From the words of Wangari Maathai of The Green Belt Movement, Kenya:

We are called to assist the Earth to heal her wounds and in the process heal our own—indeed, to embrace the whole creation in all its diversity, beauty and wonder. This will happen if we see the need to revive our sense of belonging to a larger family of life, with which we have shared our evolutionary process.

In the course of history, there comes a time when humanity is called to shift to a new level of consciousness, to reach a higher moral ground. A time when we have to shed our fear and give hope to each other.

That time is now. 

Prayers for Creation:

For the birds of the air, that the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and similar laws the world over may be strengthened and enforced to protect our winged brothers and sisters as they traverse our skies.

Response:  Keep them in your care.

For all creatures of the sea, as well as fresh-water creatures: may they be protected from the ravages of over-fishing, whale hunting, and pollution of our oceans, streams and rivers through common-sense legislation created to protect them.

Response:  Keep them in your care.

For all wild animals that roam the earth on every continent, in every habitat, may they find abundant healthy land, nourishment and water in which to make their way in this world through the wise use of these resources by their human brothers and sisters.

Response:  Keep them in your care.

For all the quintillions of insects that share the earth with us, representing the largest biomass of any terrestrial life form, may they thrive in their homes above and below the soil, continuing their important work in the web of creation.

Response:  Keep them in your care.

We join with all of them today, birds, mammals, fish and insects, and praise the Creator, whose life we share, whose spirit of love keeps breath in our bodies.  Amen. 

Closing Prayer: A 21st Century Prayer of Jesus

Holy One, who is within, around and among us, 

we celebrate your many names. 

Your wisdom come.  Your will be done,

unfolding from the depths within  us. 

Each day you give us all that we need. 

You remind us of our limits, and we let go. 

You support us in our power, and we act with courage.

For you are the dwelling place within us, 

the empowerment around us,

 and the celebration among us, now and forever. Amen.  

The Prayer of Jesus as interpreted by Miriam Therese Winter 

Song: Canticle of the Feathered Ones

https://youtu.be/YmvOW4wzcpg

Action

“I like it when a flower or a little tuft of grass grows through a crack in the concrete. It’s so heroic.” George Carlin

These little things in nature, or the huge things like massive storms, the endless stars in the sky, are our constant companions during our time on earth.  We walk with nature whether we are aware of it or not.  But how wonderful it is to be aware, to notice!  After all, it is hard to love something if we don’t notice it.  And if we don’t love creation we may not be so sure of our resolve to protect it.  As we close our Season of Creation here are a few ideas to help us keep in touch with the world beyond our cellphones and appointments.  Feel free to try these, and to share your own ways of “keeping in touch” with the natural world!

• Take a walk!  Getting out on a trail at your favorite park or nature center, walking along a beach, taking a stroll through a woodlot, or even walking slowly through your own backyard can be a great way to keep in touch.  Try to pay attention to details during your walk.  How does the air feel on your skin?  How does the sun feel?  Are their tiny creatures living in the grass or flowers?  What sounds do you hear as you walk?  Are you alone or are there birds in the branches above your head?
• Keep a nature journal.  A journal devoted to nature observations can be a fun way to help us notice the activities in nature going on all around us.  Some ideas you might try are keeping a list of which flowers are blooming each week of the growing season, which birds are coming to your feeders each day, which mammals you see visiting your yard, etc.  You can also concentrate on one natural object in your yard (a tree, for instance), and note the changes in that object from month to month over the course of a year. 
• Put up a bird feeder.  There is no better way to bring nature in close than feeding it!  If you put up a bird feeder you might be surprised at the number of visitors you get in a very short time.  Get to know them.  There are a number of bird field guides available, or go to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's website, https://www.allaboutbirds.org/. 
• Keep a nature sketch book.  A drawing pad is a fine way to connect with nature.  Whether at home or while traveling, drawing the natural objects around you is an intimate activity that really helps to focus on the details.  The drawings don’t have to be museum pieces.  It is the process of looking closely that counts.
• Photograph nature.  Bringing a camera along on a hike can help us notice the beauty all around us.  Whether looking for a beautiful sunset, a grand mountain landscape, or the tiniest bee working on the head of a flower, photography can help us notice our surroundings in the natural world.